1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system having an authentication function.
2. Description of the Related Art
These days, TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) reduction in a printing system in the office environment is becoming more and more important. To reduce TCO, attention is paid not only to reduction of the initial installation cost of a printing apparatus and system, but also to reduction of the cost of consumables such as print sheets and coloring materials typified by toner. Cost reduction of consumables is very important for cost reduction in the office and global environmental conservation.
As a conventional problem, anyone can print using a printing apparatus installed in the office as long as he can access the network. The printing apparatus neither puts printing restriction on anyone nor leaves the trace of printing. A user is free from any psychological inhibition and may print out more than necessary. This unnecessarily increases TCO.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-134136 discloses an information processing apparatus having a user restriction function of restricting an output for each user. The information processing apparatus can effectively reduce TCO because it restricts an output for each user.
As the printing system is growing to a large scale, an authentication server system which restricts functions may be arranged outside a printing apparatus, and the server computer may perform authentication and the like. In a large-scale office or the like, hundreds or thousands of host computers may be installed. However, in a form in which one authentication server system executes authentication requested from many host computers, the authentication server may put an excessive load, causing an error. For example, when accesses from many external devices may exceed the limit of the capacity, the authentication server may break down. The authentication server greatly slows down due to an excessive load. As a result, there is a problem that the print process becomes delayed and usability degrades.